The present invention relates to a process for making alkylglycosides. In particular, it relates to a process for making a light straw colored, i.e., substantially colorless, alkylglycoside product.
Alkylglycosides are nonionic surfactants which provide detergency, foaming, emulsifying, and wetting properties comparable to those of other nonionic surfactants. For a number of years it has been proposed to use alkylglycosides as surfactants either alone or in combination with other anionic or nonionic surfactants in detergent formulations.
Despite the long recognized potential uses for alkylglycosides in detergents, they have been primarily relegated to use in industrial detergency applications. The reason for this is that presently available economical processes for making alkylglycosides produce a product having a substantial amount of color producing impurities, resulting in a dark, coffee-colored product.
Although the color of the alkylglycoside product may be of little importance in some industrial detergent applications, color is crucial for many other industrial applications and, as a practical matter, for all household detergent applications. The reason for this is simply that, as a general rule, those using such products do not wish to wash their clothes and dishes with a coffee-colored detergent product.
To enable the use of alkylglycosides in household detergent formulations, there has been a need for a simple and economical process for making a substantially colorless, e.g., a light straw colored, alkylglycoside product. The present invention provides for such a process.